We Found Something We Were Not Searching For
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) is one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco and cigarettes, including by far the most popular brand of cigarette Marlboro with 44% market share.
Many have gone into great detail about all the ins and outs of Altria's business and the strength of its capital returns, including 50 dividend increases in the last 47 years. We will take a closer look at the dynamics happening in the "smokeable" or cigarette business.
When we started this analysis, we aimed to determine if there was a point in time where Altria's customer decline would start to catch up to them on the bottom line. We thought maybe in 20, 30 or 40 years they would have no customers, no profits, and no cash flow to buy back stock or pay out dividends.
